Against All Odds
by DixonDuo
Summary: This is the story of Claire Harper, how she met the Dixons, and the events that unfolded thereafter. An eventual Daryl Dixon/OC.
1. Chapter 1- Panicked

Hey guys. So this idea for a Walking Dead fan fiction came to my head recently and now that I'm off for Christmas break I decided I would give it a go. Please let me know what you think and give me any critiques you feel are necessary. ^_^ This story is set before the Dixons met up with the group.

Ok, so this is the first chapter. Things will be a little vague in the beginning, but I will go more in depth later in the chapter. For this chapter and the rest, if anything is in _italics_, it is the character thinking to themselves. I also plan to write all dialogue in a southern dialect while keeping the narrative in "normal" grammar. Just so you know so you aren't confused. Now on with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from The Walking Dead; everything belongs to the respective owners. I make no profit from writing this.

Chapter 1 – Panicked

Everything happened so fast it made my head spin. So many thoughts were running through my head it was hard to keep myself calm enough to think clearly. I grabbed anything left that could be of any use to me and put it in my bag. Then I ran as fast and as far as I could. I knew I had to keep an eye out for the dead as well. The only weapons I had were the ones I took with me before it all happened, my pistol and hunting knife. I knew well enough to only use the pistol if there was no other way to get out of the situation alive. I would need to stick to my knife and some careful maneuvering if I wanted to find somewhere safe.

It was early morning so I had the whole day to figure out a plan before nightfall. I didn't know the area I was in at all. I just prayed I would stumble upon an abandoned house or some other form of shelter. I wasn't too comfortable with the thought of spending the night out in the open, in the middle of the woods… alone. That thought alone pushed me to pick up my pace. In my panicked state I was paying less attention to where I was going and what was in my path. As I was making my way through the dense brush I tripped over a tree root causing me to nearly face plant while sending my bag flying off of my shoulder as I tried to catch myself. I was on the ground attempting to catch my breath when I heard some rustling close to me.

_Oh shit._

I quickly tried to pull myself together to effectively search for my now missing bag. I remained on the ground crawling around and sifting my hands around and through the bushes feeling for the bag. I wasn't fast enough. The rustling had gotten louder and now there were the disgusting groans I was all too familiar with hearing. Before I could turn around, my leg was grabbed by one of those things. I desperately tried kicking it to keep it from biting me while I looked for anything I could grab to bash its head in. There was nothing. Not a rock, heavy branch, anything.

_Fuck. I'm goin' ta' fuckin' die right here, right now. Like this…_

**Whoosh…. Crunch.**

Suddenly I heard it drop beside me. I looked over to see an arrow through its skull. About the time I looked over at it I heard a man yelling.

"Whooo! Nice aim, little brother!" echoed the voice.

I finally made it to my feet and looked around for the source of the voice. Suddenly two men began walking down the embankment toward me. One had brown hair and carried a crossbow while the other had salt and pepper hair and wielded a large hunting knife. As they got closer, the seemingly older one leaned down and picked up my bag.

"This yers princess?" He asked as he started rummaging through my stuff. Meanwhile, the other man pulled his arrow out of the now twice dead man's head.

_I almost got killed, now I'm gonna get robbed._

I just stood there slightly taken aback by the man looking through my things.

"Ya ain't got much here." He laughed slightly. "Wouldn't live too long with just this." He stated as he zipped up my bag and tossed it back to me.

"I think we should bring 'er along, Daryl." He said to his brother. "The Dixons could always use a pretty girl around." He added as he winked at me.

"Whatever, Merle." The other man finally spoke not looking at either of us. It seemed like he was just giving in as to not argue with his brother.

_Great, I can already tell I ain't wanted._

"Alright little brother. I say it's about time fer us ta' head on back ta' the truck an' get them squirrels cooked." Merle stated.

Daryl led the way to their truck as Merle walked alongside me.

"So what's yer name girl?" He asked giving me a slightly flirty look.

_Ugh what a pig. Beats bein' out here alone though._

"Claire Harper." I replied then looked ahead again to see an older grey pickup truck in the distance with a motorcycle in the back. I could also see a green tent not too far from it.

When we got to the truck Daryl sat down his crossbow and pulled out a knife to start skinning the squirrels. Merle began working on getting a fire started in their small fire pit. I sat down awkwardly near the fire pit and put my bag down beside me, unsure of what else I could do. Neither of the men seemed bothered with me not helping. I still felt bad though.

_Why would they wanna keep me around if I can't do shit?_

By the time Merle had the fire going, Daryl already had squirrel meat ready to be cooked. I watched as Daryl skinned and cut up the squirrels and I could tell this was definitely something he had been doing for years. Merle put the squirrel meat in a pot that hung above the fire.

"So… how old are ya, Claire?" Merle asked as he gave me a smirk.

_I really gotta try an' put an end ta' this._

"Old enough." I replied harshly. "Question is if yer dumb enough ta' try it." I heard Daryl breathe out through his nose as if he was going to laugh. When I looked over he was skinning the final squirrel with a smirk on his face.

"Whooo feisty! I'm gonna enjoy havin' you around darlin'." Merle answered. I had only seemed to pique his interest.

_Well that definitely backfired…_

When all the squirrel was finished cooking, we all ate around the fire.

"So how long had ya been out there alone?" Daryl asked.

"Just this mornin'. I replied. I really didn't want to talk about what had happened, but these two saved my life, it was the least I could do.

"What happened?" He continued.

"Well… I had been in a group with some people from my college. One of us got pretty sick so 'er brother, Josh, left the group ta' try an' find some help. He had been gone for days, we thought he wuddn't comin' back. One evenin' I went ta' excuse myself from the camp. Not too long after that I heard the screamin' and gun shots. I hurried as fast as I could ta' find out what'd happened. I saw a group of men standin' in our camp with guns and they had Josh with 'em. They must've just fired a few warnin' shots because no one was dead yet. There was more yellin' before they shot Josh in front of everyone, then finished off everybody else. There was nothin' I could do. I woulda stood no chance. They weren't military, but they had guns like 'em. They walked around and took all of our weapons and most of our food. I waited until they left an' tried to scavenge up anythin' useful. I was runnin' away and tryin' ta' find somewhere ta' go and that's when I met ya'll."

"Holy shit!" Merle exclaimed while chewing the last of his squirrel.

"Sorry ta' hear that." Daryl answered.

"Thanks ." I replied. I sat there eating my squirrel still thinking about the events that had happened. I just guessed that those men lied and offered Josh medicine if he brought them to us.

No other words were said while everyone finished their dinner. The silence was finally broken by Daryl.

"It's gettin' late. We got a busy day comin' up. Claire, you can sleep in the truck an' me an' Merle'll take turns keepin' watch."

"Alright." I agreed. I grabbed my things and made my way over to the truck. As I opened the door I heard Merle call out once more.

"Night girlie! If ya need anythin' give us a holler!"

I didn't even need to turn around to know that he had a smug look on his face. I got in the truck, closed the door and let out a long sigh. It had been a long and crazy day. Just when it looked like everything went to shit, I had met two saviors in the woods. Strangely I already felt comfortable with them. I didn't know what was to come, but I felt safe with the brothers and I was confident that we could get through anything together.

Ok guys, so that was the first chapter. I hope you all liked it. I'd also really enjoy some feedback. If it is too hard to read the dialogue since I wrote it in a dialect, I would be happy to change it. Just let me know because if no one complains about it, I will continue to write it that way. ^_^ Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2- Post-Apocalyptic Road Trip

Before starting this chapter, I'd like to thank my three followers, one favorite-er and one reviewer! Thanks for the support guys.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from The Walking Dead; everything belongs to the respective owners. I make no profit from writing this.

Chapter 2 – Post-Apocalyptic Road Trip

I had slept fairly well, but not for as long as I would have liked. I was woken up by some knocking on the window of the truck. It was still pretty dark outside. Turns out the Dixons are early birds. As I was coming into consciousness, I was a little dazed and confused before finally snapping back into reality. I looked over to see none other than Merle Dixon. I opened up the passenger door to see what he wanted.

"Mornin' Claire. Better get somethin' ta' eat 'fore we leave." He stated as he tossed a pot and bowl into the back of the truck.

"Mornin'." I replied as I got out of the truck. When I got out, I could see the tent was already packed away in the back of the truck. Daryl was finishing up his left over squirrel as I sat down to start eating mine. Merle walked over and stood near us.

"Well, I think that's just about everythin' little brother." He said while rubbing his hands together.

"Where are we goin'?" I asked as I looked at both brothers.

"Atlanta." Daryl answered.

"What's in Atlanta?" I questioned.

"What's in Atlanta?!" Merle started, obviously surprised I didn't know. "It's a safe zone. No fuckin' walkers down in Atlanta. I thought everybody knew that. That's all ya see plastered on signs and buildin's anymore."

"A safe zone? No, my group didn't know about Atlanta bein' safe." I said.

"Damn, really? Well it's a good thing yer with us then ain't it?" Merle finished.

_ Wow, I can't believe he said that._

I was a little surprised by the harshness of Merle's reply. I had just told him what had happened to my friends, and that was what he said. If it wasn't for them being murdered, I wouldn't be with the Dixons in the first place. I just looked down and finished up my breakfast. I could see Daryl out of the corner of my eye, and I could tell he was annoyed by his brother's response. I guessed he wouldn't say anything though. He seemed to try to avoid conflict with Merle as much as possible.

"It's time ta' go." Daryl stated as he started getting up. We walked over to the truck and Daryl and I put our bowls in the back with Merle's. Daryl went over to the driver's side and Merle headed over to the passenger side.

"Ladies first." Merle smiled as he opened the door and motioned for me to enter.

_Ugh I know why…_

I rolled my eyes as I got in the truck. I knew the only reason Merle wanted me to get in the truck before him was so he could get a better look at my ass. He got in and shut the door behind him. Daryl started the truck and off we went. We finally made it to a main road. I hadn't been on a main road for months. I hated driving or even walking along them. They were a literal highway of death and despair for the people who tried to escape when it all started. Overturned vehicles littered the roadway along with the rotting bodies of those who died in and out of them. Daryl maneuvered the truck through the wreckage without much trouble.

"Stop here, Daryl." Merle ordered.

Daryl pulled the truck over as Merle opened the door.

_What the hell is he doing?!_

"C'mon, Claire." He stated.

I looked over at Daryl who gave me a look of 'it's fine, just go.' So I got out of the truck and followed Merle over to an SUV.

"Ya' need ta' learn how ta' scavenge fer things, girl." He began. "What ya wanna do is look fer bigger vehicles like this one. They're usually more expensive, an' more money equals more useful shit."

We circled around the car as Merle cupped around his eyes to look inside the windows. He quickly walked off the roadway and found a large rock. I instantly stepped back knowing exactly what he was going to do. The rock crashed into the window and Merle reached in to unlock the car. He opened up the back to reveal a variety of things the owners had packed inside.

"You look back here, an' I'll look up there." He said while pointing to the boxes in the back.

I opened one of the boxes and found nothing but clothes.

_Don't need any of this right now._

I pushed the box out of the way and opened another one.

_Jackpot!_

The box contained several canned foods that were still good to eat. I grabbed the box and laid it on the pavement. Merle walked back to me holding a new pistol and a box of ammo.

"See? Told ya there'd be good shit." He smiled as grabbed the box and headed back to the truck. While Merle walked to the back of the truck, walkers started showing up.

_Guess we were too loud._

I quickly got in the truck and waited for Merle to get in.

"Merle! Get yer ass in here!" Daryl yelled as we watched them get closer.

"I'm comin' Darlina, don't get yer panties in a bunch." He replied, mocking his brother's concern for him.

Merle finally got in the truck and we drove off before they could get close enough to be a real threat.

"Yer a dumbass ya' know that?" Daryl mumbled to his brother.

Merle just turned to look at him with an irritated look on his face.

"It ain't just us anymore." Daryl continued.

_Oh great, they're fighting cause of me. Ta' make it worse, I'm sittin' between 'em._

"I knew that's why ya' were gettin' all worked up." Merle finally replied. I could tell he was getting angry. "Ya' weren't like this before."

Daryl just scoffed at his brother's accusation.

Both brothers were now fuming at each other.

_I don't even wanna be here if I'm just fuckin' everythin' up. If they feel like things would be better without me, I'll give 'em the opportunity._

"Stop fightin'! If I'm such a damn liability pull the truck the fuck over an' let me the fuck out!" I yelled.

Both brothers took their eyes off the road and looked at me with surprised looks.

_Well at least I got my point across…_

"Ya' ain't a liability." Daryl finally broke the silence. "It's just…" He trailed off.

_It's cause now they got a girl they gotta look out for._

"Just what? That I'm a girl?" I finished for him.

"Well? Answer 'er little brother." Merle proded, looking slightly amused. The look Daryl shot him told me everything I needed to know.

"You don't need ta' be worried about me. An' if ya are, ya can always teach me the stuff ya think I'm bad at. I don't wanna make ya'll argue over nothin'." I explained.

"Fair enough." Daryl answered.

We continued on our journey to Atlanta for several more miles. Just when we thought about stopping to set up camp, we happened upon something we didn't think we would see.

That's the end of chapter 2. I hope you guys enjoyed, and feedback is always appreciated!


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